to birth an ancestral crown - Angelina Leaños

combine honey and blood in the vessel of your throat

rechazó el procedimiento

pluck tears from your bed for bitterness

this shouldn’t be a ritual you savor

¿por qué no? es un miembro a cambio de una vida

name your cup after the one you grieve

dice que las oraciones son suficientes

drink. leave no drop unloved

your grievance lives in you now

¿y si Dios no responde?

now you may cleave your tongue to save your ancestors’

or you may apocalypse the bloodline

your choice is now law

[Enter God]

Angelina Leaños (she/her) is a Ventura County Youth Poet Laureate emerita and a second-year MFA student at Fresno State. Angelina regularly serves as a Poetry Out Loud coach and a Poet-Teacher, mentoring youth in poetry recitation and creative writing. Additionally, Angelina is a member of California Poets in the Schools’ Board of Directors and was a reader for the 2023 Philip Levine Prize. Her work has been published by Urban Word, Flowersong Press, the Chicanx Writers & Artists Association, Arkana, Fruitslice and others. You can find her on Instagram at @angelinaleanos.